Vail getaway

For four years now we've joined my parents for a few days of their timeshare exchange either in Telluride or Vail. Dipping into the more opulent lifestyle always gives me cause for reflection. It's such a world unto itself. But mostly I relish the chance to browse the internet, read, knit and write while my parents entertain the kids. I wish I did less of the first so I could do more of the latter, but...

The kids have had all kinds of fun, the last night Joachim and I spent a long time playing, yes, I would definitely call it playing, on the outdoor escalators. Apparently when you build a posh resort on a mountainside you need to put in escalators every now and then to get up the hillside (when I was in high school and climbing 14ers we used to joke "where's the escalator?" now I know,... it's in Beavercreek). There are no escalators in Delta, so armed with his knowledge of Corduroy's adventures we ran up the down, rode backwards, and walked in place until the sidewalk moved even when we stepped off. I myself have never had so much fun on an escalator.

Obviously they got soaked in the fountain. Below is the Pirate ship at the park, needless to say it was also fun.

sooo many pictures

Our last day there we hiked through the aspens, but we almost didn't make it to the actual trail head. I had over-estimated Joachim's hiking enthusiasm and I very genuinely told him we could go back down to the condo and Granddaddy could finish the hike. I wasn't even trying to manipulate him and he said, "Well, I guess I can go a little bit further." And he went all the way with a few intermittent piggybacks.

Once we were in the tree line the hike became way more enjoyable and I realized something funny, since kids, the only hikes I've taken (except one) have been in the autumn aspens. It's special and beautiful, but I'm beginning to forget what the mountains are like other times of the year.

There's a nifty "rear view mirror" attached by a chord to the backpack. A funny accessory, but I can see how it could come in handy hiking alone.

Vail is a nice place, a bit like Disney World in it's perfect cobblestone streets, profuse flowers and European architecture. I really do enjoy it. People snapped colorfully arty pictures all around the village, but I realized pretty quickly, like I recently read on a blog, that I'd probably never look at those kind of pictures again. I can appreciate an Ansel Adams photograph, but it's always been people that attract me, I like the humanity you can read in a moment. That said, I love looking at my pictures from Russia and Africa, so I guess it just depends on what brings you warmth and closer to yourself.

together

Joachim now "reads" to Anna and she "listens," a phenomenon I've seen in my friends' kids that we've now moved on to. He sometimes repeats the same page several times (or the same sentence rather) but Anna just continues to give him her full attention, it's astonishing really.



Anna's indicating to me that the monkeys bonk their heads when they fall out of bed. They're seated between the couch and the wall in a favorite play spot.

Double Nuk'n it. How exciting to find a lost Nuk while you already have one. If one is good two are better.

recently

Ben and the kids making lunch I think. Anna's quite adept at wheeling around that little chair to get to things, lots of things. Ben affectionately calls her "mo-ped Annie" because she has this uncanny ability to be everywhere at once and cut you off in a second. (He's dropped the Annie part now and simply refers to himself as the "Semi" and her "mo-ped").

Occasionally they do actually play together, wonder of wonders, mostly because Joachim is surprisingly tolerant of her demands.

This is an apron I made in high school and up 'til recently I'd never actually worn it. After weeks of Anna eating dinner in my lap (and several stain sticks) I pulled this atrocity out of the cabinet and started wearing at dinner (surprisingly it doesn't occur to me put it on while making dinner).

We habitually strip Anna down to her diaper before lunch and dinner (she eats breakfast in her PJ's) to the point that when we call her to dinner she simultaneously tries to cross herself for the blessing and pull her shirt up and pants down. It's sweet and we get quite a few jokes out of the long term repercussions of such conditioning. Joachim was always much cleaner, to this day we'll finish a meal and his napkin will still be neatly folded while we've used the other three on Anna. Anyway, I have no idea what I was thinking when I designed it, the pattern's not bad, but the fabric?!

What do you do in the morning when Daddy's gone to work, Joachim's sleeping and you're helping mom with the laundry?
You put on three pairs of big brother's undies and party it up :)